So… despite the tragedy of center in my last class, I decided that I needed a barre at home. Why limit the hilarity of my attempts to dance to public displays of crazy when I could practice my completely laughable moves at home too!!! So Carboy & I hit the hardware store and came home with an armful of galvanized pipe and gas line.
What you see below is one 6-foot section of threaded galvanized pipe, two 3-foot sections of threaded gas line, four 6-inch threaded galvanized nipples, six elbows, and two Ts. Just make sure the diameters all match. We literally put the barre together in the aisle of the hardware store to ensure that all the sections fit. The lengths of the pipe also reflect a size that fits me and my space available for dancing in my dining room.
*Note: We discussed using PVC but decided that a small diameter would be too flexible and a large and more stiff diameter would be uncomfortable because I have small hands. We only used a mix of galvanized pipe and gas line because that was what was available in the sizes we needed at the Home Depot. The result is kinda cool looking because my barre is now silver and black in color.
This is actually super simple and once you have all the correct parts takes less than 20 minutes and all you need is a wrench to tighten up the attachments.
Okay, here goes… take four of the elbows and the four nipples and screw an elbow onto one end of each nipple. Like so…
Awesome. Take the 2 tees and screw a nipple into each side, like so…
Voila! These are the feet of the barre. Now to add the legs, take the 3ft (or whatever size works for your height) and screw them into the top of the T.
Easy peasy, almost done! Screw on the remaining elbows onto the 6ft length (or length of your choice) for the top or the actually barre part of the barre…
All that’s left is to screw the “barre” into the elbows on the legs and tighten up everything!
It’s a good idea to clean the whole thing because it’s bound to be dusty and/or a little greasy from the hardware store. But there you have it, your very own portable barre.
I have hardwood floors but if you don’t have a flooring that is conducive to dancing, may I suggest a trip to the remmant section of a flooring store, a nice little square of dancing floor can be had for super cheap!
Happy dancing!
THE 109th BEAD 
I went by the hardware store yesterday after work. Unfortunatly I managed to get home missing a few things, not a surprise. Oh well, back to the store this afternoon. There’s no way I’m paying the prices I found for barres online.
Looks like there might be two blog posts on ballet barre dyi.
That is why we built mine right in the aisle of the home depot! Plus I got to try out the height… don’t see that everyday in the middle of a hardware store!
I’m looking forward to seeing your post and your barre! 😀
I forgot about the feet and the PVC “glue”. I have all the connectors, which was what I thought i’d forget.
Ah, I see, you’ll want feet. With pipe, I didn’t need glue, just a wrench.
Your right, it’s having a hard time standing up without them. Go figure.
I want my own barre too! And a mirror, plus flooring. What the hey, I can sleep in the livingroom and turn my bedroom into a dance studio 🙂
Thanks L for the instructions!
Tip: use duct-tape to make your grip more comfortable.
I need a mirror now! I also discovered that my hardwood floors are really (REALLY) hard so I might go get a section of flooring with a little bit of spring.
Thanks for the duct-tape tip. I love duct-tape, fixer-of-all-problems!
This is fabulous! I so want my own barre and now you’ve made it look so gosh darned easy I might just have to do it!
It really was so easy! It’s just a matter of matching up the right parts and diameters of pipe at the hardware store!
Build one, build one, build one! I’m now convinced that no home should be without one 😀
That is awesome! I use the edge of my kitchen counter or the tiki bar for now. 🙂
Thanks, Jeff! My kitchen is way to narrow to use the counter to do anything but some plies and tendus 😀 A tiki barre does sounds awesome though!!!
What? You didn’t screw it right in to the wall? You’re in this for the long run!
Hahaha! I don’t have enough free wall space or else I probably would have!
Ohhhhhh I am super jealous! That looks amazing and I totally want one too… curse the fact there is no space in my house to have a barre!
hmmm, how about a mini-barre?!?!?
Much rather a mini bar… 😉
Maybe if I could convince my housemate she didn’t need her piano I could have a barre. Hmm.
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Mini barre, tiki barre, piano barre… oh, the awesome-ness of the barre!
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